BPA Toxic Effects & Symptoms: How BPA Destroys Your Body
By Dr. Josh Axe, DC, DMN, CNS
July 16, 2018
https://draxe.com/health/bpa-toxic-effects/
Bisphenol A (known as BPA) is a carbon-based, synthetic compound that is ubiquitous in modern-day life. It’s used in everything from shatter-resistant plastic water bottlesand food storage containers to cash register receipts and canned food and drink liners. It’s even in coffee cans and beer kegs. Despite it being literally impossible to fully avoid, BPA toxic effects are now very well documented in medical literature. And the findings are not appetizing. The science shows this hormone-disrupting chemical causes widespread damage throughout our bodies.
It may seem like something out of a science fiction movie, but the damage can actually linger for generations, impacting an exposed person’s offspring (and their kids and beyond). (1) With facts like these, it’s clear we need to avoid this chemical like the plague and work to get it off the market.
In July 2018 in a first-of-its-kind study, researchers identified another risk factor a host of digestive health ailments, and this is huge. They identified BPA as a risk factor for inflammatory bowel disease.
Let’s take a closer look at BPA toxic effects, along with where this harmful chemical is hiding, and, of course, the best ways to avoid it. Plus (great news!), I’ll introduce you to a first-of-its-kind database that helps you better ID BPA threats in unexpected places.
BPA Toxic Effects
Because manufacturers line most food and beverage cans with BPA, it is virtually impossible to avoid for most people who eat the “typical” American (processed/packaged food) diet. Dietary intake is believed to be the biggest exposure point in adults. (2) Taking that into account, it’s easy to see why this endocrine disruptor is now detected in the urine of 93 percent of Americans. (3)
But let’s take a look at how this bad news chemical became such a part of our daily lives in the first place. Invented in a lab in 1891, it became quite clear by the 1930s that BPA is actually an artificial evidence. This gave the scientific community the first clear evidence of toxicity. Despite that, after World War II, the chemical industry boomed manufacturers started creating hard polycarbonate plastic. (Polycarbonate falls in the #7 plastic category, although not all plastics in that category are polycarbonate.) Around the same time, it also became the go-to epoxy resin for metal food cans.
Decades of studies, advisory panels and problematic conflicts of interest on government panels investigating BPA followed. In 2007, the first large study showed that eating canned foods results in widespread BPA contamination. Environmental Working Group’s research concluded that the highest concentrations were found in canned soup, pastas and infant formula. The analysis also found that many Americans are exposed to BPA above levels shown to be harmful in laboratory studies. Still this is a product in tens of thousands of consumer products today, despite the BPA toxic health effects outlined next. (4)